Five inmates from the Vannes remand center (Morbihan) took part in a photographic workshop last July. A one-week project, led by Gwenvaël Engel, in partnership with the Education League and the SPIP (Penitentiary Integration and Probation Service). Mixing culture with sport, these images gave rise to a restitution made public.
Until March 2, 2025, the photos can be discovered on the edge of the port of Vannes, in an exhibition entitled “Breathing”. Why this name? “Because it was a moment of freedom, (…) a break” for the participants, replies the artistic director, Gwenvaël Engel. “And it could be interesting because there was really this notion of breathing linked to sport“ (…) We also wanted a word that echoed the word fusion (name of his previous project, editor’s note).”
In front and behind the camera
The photographs were taken in the common areas of the Vannes remand center: the promenade, the weight room, the sports field with its football cages and basketball hoops. Several elements recall the theme of sport through boxing gloves or even table tennis rackets, brought by the photographer.
“When we know the importance of sport in detention, (it is) overall what punctuates their day and what is their daily release“, notes the photographer behind this creation. The inmates take part in the game of being behind and in front of the camera.
In the heart of a place of deprivation of freedoms, taking photographs is made complicated due to several technical elements. He doesn't “should not recognize the remand center, not show security elements such as barbed wire and not recognize the detainees“, remembers Gwenvaël Engel.
A “touching and successful” result
Difficulties which also made it possible to serve the work of the photographer. “I got them to move around to get better viewpoints and show them that photos can be very beautiful even if you can't see their faces.“She was present during this five-day session.”to get them to think further in observation in aesthetics“.
For what result? According to Gwenvaël Engel, “we can see the sport clearly, we can guess the movements and we can guess the places” in the selected photographs. The artistic director finds this project “touching” et “successful“, particularly in view of the constraints. Although they have not yet all had the opportunity to see the final result, the participants nevertheless remained “extremely enthusiastic” at the idea of being exposed for everyone to see.
